You’re getting a 2-for-1 deal with this one, so bear with me.

Take a good look at this photo.

You’d think it’d be 60 degrees and sunny judging by that. Don’t be fooled by those blue skies, I’m not lying when I say it literally felt like Antarctica. Though if it meant ball hawking, I was willing to put up with it to. As was my bestiest bestie Elsa.

Cold who?

If you’re new here, Elsa is basically my non-biological sister, that’s how close and amazing a bestie she is to me. Hands down the most caring, considerate, and supportive friend EVER. She’s been featured in blogs before, and will be in PLENTY more to come!

The scene upon entry was no surprise.

No BP. Fabulous. I could have bet thousands on that. What’s strange, however, is that there were a plethora of balls sitting loosely in the bullpens, and even one in the batter’s eye.

Which makes me suspicious that they really did take BP. Not like I’d be able to get any of them, there were groundskeepers everywhere, so using my cup trick would draw all attention to me within a matter of seconds. You’ll see later on that I did eventually have a chance to use it.

Besides the groundskeepers, there were a total of 2 players on the field. An unidentified Railriders pitcher, and newly added catcher Ronaldo Hernandez playing catch in shallow left.

At least I had a shot at something.

Around the time they were finishing, and to the complete and utter shock of all 20 of the fans in attendance at the time, a booming announcement came over the speakers stating that “Tonight’s game has been postponed due to unplayable field conditions.” Unplayable? Seriously? You had all day to warn us about it, and you wait until a half hour before 1st pitch?

The next thing I knew, the two were finished throwing, so I quickly refocused and frantically called out “Ronaldo! Toss it up here please!?”

Maybe it is that easy.

Side note, I do NOT recommend eating the chicken tenders from the club level. I had them after snagging that ball, and ended up with food poisoning. Amazing.

I still went to Wednesday’s makeup doubleheader. With no BP, I figured it was okay to arrive at the game’s start. It 100% paid off, as the second Elsa and I walked through the doors to the outside, Dominik Smith of the Railriders, a lefty, hit a foul ball into the club boxes on the opposite side.

I had that thing eyed up the whole time, and the second the inning ended, the two of us raced over there to investigate. And to my ABSOLUTE satisfaction…

…it was just sitting there, waiting to be rescued. Hell yes. 1st foul ball of the year, in the cheapest form possible.

Afterwards, we figured we’d venture downstairs to wander. I’m glad we did, because we made it to right field just in time to possibly get the Red Wings outfield warmup ball before bottom 2. Sure enough…

…it really IS that easy. That one came courtesy of Andrew Pickney.

We hung out in right field for about 2 or so innings, then started to get hungry, so we ventured out to left, and eventually found ourselves behind the 3rd base dugout perfectly positioned and timed for the 3rd out ball from top 3. Jorbit Vivas ended up with it, and as he was jogging off the field, he threw that ball right to me.

Nice. This was shaping out to be a great day.

After that, we finally made it upstairs for a bite to eat. And OF COURSE, right after we got settled in…

…Andrew Jackson decided it was a great time to hit a ground-rule double to the service gap in left center during bottom 4. Having NEVER snagged a GRD, we both hustled downstairs to assess the situation. Once there, I nervously looked down to see if that ball was still there.

Hallelujah. History was just seconds away. Remember earlier, I said I’d get a chance to use my cup trick? This is what I meant. It was quite literally in PERFECT position to do it. I immediately ripped out the cup, untangled the string, waited until the inning was finished, and within seconds, reeled in my 1st EVER game ground-rule double.

That was one of my BIGGEST goals for this season. For how uncommon it is, getting it out of the way in my 2nd game of the year was huge. And with Elsa there too! I think that made it even more special.

Okay, I got what I wanted. We figured afterwards, we could FINALLY relax for a bit in the club before game 2. And that, we did. Final score for game 1, Red Wings – 7, Railriders – 4. 5 balls total for game 1 brought my lifetime total to 368.

That 15 or so minutes of nothing really felt nice, for both Elsa AND myself. Once we saw the pitchers heading out to their respective bullpens, however, that’s when we knew it was time to spring back into action. We were in no hurry, and by the time we got down there, both pitchers were just beginning throwing in the pen. Our first target was Railriders starter Brandon Leibrandt.

1 for 1.

I knew it wouldn’t be much longer until the Red Wings finished on their side, so we quickly rushed over there. I couldn’t get a shot of our next target, Wings starter Andrew Alvarez, because right as we got over there, he was just beginning to walk off. I wasn’t backing down though.

2 for 2. Nice.

Both Elsa and I agreed that we wanted to stay upstairs for the entirety of game 2. Once we got up there, the game was just starting, and we sat down to grab some dinner. Afterwards, I tried to work whatever opportunities that came for balls during the game. Fouls, nope. 3rd outs, nope. I was beginning to doubt anything else would come my way for the rest of the night. Which I would have been fine with, until bottom 7, when Everson Pereira stepped to the plate. On the VERY 1ST PITCH of the AB, he sent a high foul ball over behind home plate, over the netting, towards my direction. I judged it would be about 10 feet to my left, but too high for me to make a jumping catch. It deflected down from high on the wall to the club, rolled around the walkway for a bit, and…

…with no competition, I was able to scoop it right up. That felt EXTREMELY nice. I guess by the time I came out of my state of triumph, the next thing I knew, Dominic Smith was getting surrounded by teammates after hitting a walk-off single to right to win the game for the Railriders 4-3. This game is going to be HARD TO BEAT as far as stats. Apologies for the VERY late upload…

STATS FOR THESE GAMES

7 BALLS TOTAL

• 4 TOSS UPS (1 3RD OUT)
• 2 GAME FOULS
• 1 GAME GROUND-RULE DOUBLE

EXTENDED STATS

Well, it’s been a long 5 months, but that time of year is FINALLY here. Yes, that’s right, it’s officially baseball season. More importantly, it’s ball hawking season. So, what should we expect? To be honest, I’m not expecting much different coming into this season compared to last year. In fact, I’m expecting less as far as traveling goes due to different personal reasons. However, there ARE a few notable changes that are worth mentioning.

We’ll start off with probably the biggest change of all, the fact that levels below Triple-A are FINALLY beginning to use the brand new Minor League ball! What am I talking about, you may ask? To summarize, Minor League Baseball changed its logo in December of 2023 with the expectation of that logo appearing on the league’s baseballs in the coming year. Fast forward to March of 2024, and those balls were nowhere to be seen in use. Fast forward again to February of this year, and we finally got photos of these balls being used in Spring Training. Lucky for me, I happened to get my hands on A DOZEN of them, so here’s a photo:

As you can see, along with the new logo, these balls also feature a much lighter blue ink than in years past. I’m personally a HUGE fan of this new look, and CANNOT wait to get to some lower level games to snag a crap ton of them.

Next, we have a change in scheduling for the International League. How so? BRAND NEW TEAMS! Okay, maybe not brand new, but teams that haven’t come to PNC Field since as far as the 1990s! These teams include…

• Toledo Mud Hens
• Charlotte Knights
• Nashville Sounds
• Indianapolis Indians

So, what does this mean? Fresh faces and brand new opportunities! Just think, what if I snagged the first home run since their respective dates they were last in town from ANY one of these teams? It’d be HUGE!

In relation to this, we’re also going to see some MAJOR renovations to PNC Field. I don’t have photos yet, but the Railriders have a new and improved clubhouse, along with the visitors batting cages being relocated to…outside? I don’t know what that’s all about. All I know is that it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder to snag foul balls outside of the stadium. I can only imagine that the extended clubhouse is going to swallow up anything that goes over the 3rd base line, and anything near the right field foul pole is probably going to be blocked off by a gate. Womp womp. Maybe it’ll mean more toss ups outside???

Finally, I’ve finally perfected the design for my ball retrieving device. As some of you may know, I developed a device that’s on a telescopic pole and has a lightbulb changer on the end of it to reach balls in areas such as the batters eye, or on rooftops such as the one below in Binghamton, NY.

The problem I faced, however, was that the lightbulb changer was at an angle that wouldn’t allow it to wrap around the ball and not hit that guard rail at the same time. It’s taken me 2-3 different designs, but I finally figured it out. Observe:

Notice how I can now position it at different angles? This is going to be huge, especially for scenarios where I can snag game home runs and fouls high up. Sky rocketed numbers? I say, yes.

That’s basically it though, nothing too extreme to note. I’m hoping to produce a lot more videos than last year, it was a crazy year in 2024 and creating content just wasn’t on my priority list. Now, it’s at the top of that list. So sit back, relax, and come along with me on some crazy adventures this season. You won’t want to miss any of it!

We’re about 75% of the way through the offseason, and I’m beginning to grow impatient. I’m sure all of you are too. So, I had an idea to keep us all from going mad without baseball.

I’m sure you’ve wondered how a baseball is made and what materials are used. Essentially, the anatomy of a baseball. I myself already know, but maybe you don’t. So, let’s dissect one and see.

We’ll start with a standard Rawlings Major League ball made in Costa Rica just like every one used in the last 20+ years has been.

Nothing special, right? Just wait.

Next, we have to remove the stitches. Yes, all 108 stitches of double-laced, waxed cotton thread. And when I say it was a struggle, I MEAN it was a struggle.

We’re now left with a ball of a bunch of yarn. What may surprise you is that there’s actually 4 LAYERS and 3 DIFFERENT KINDS of yarn used! This 1st is a much thinner white layer to give the ball a round shape.

But wait, what about the bare leather covers? Don’t think I forgot about those. My favorite part of the whole operation involves them.

See those letters? That’s a special code that Rawlings puts on all of its baseballs to show when they were made and what batch they were a part of.

Back to unraveling, after that 1st layer is undone, we reach this much thicker and darker wool layer.

Now we’re really getting down to the bottom of things. After the 2nd layer, a 3rd white layer that’s slightly thicker is to follow.

And finally, our 4th layer is a similar yarn to the 2nd layer is used.

So, what now? Is that all? Nope, not even close. If we unwind that final layer, we come to the center of it all.

This little pink ball is known as the “pill.” It may seem like just an ordinary bouncy ball, however if I were to open in it, there’d be a small ball of cork in the middle. This is the main factor in making a baseball react the way it does.

So, there you have it! The anatomy of a baseball. I thought it was interesting, I don’t know about you guys. That’s honestly all I have for now, the 2025 season is about 65 days away. I’ll leave you all off with everything in a group photo.

Ah yes. Good ole Binghamton.

That picture is proudly sponsored by PotatoVision. You’re welcome.

Rumble Ponies VS. Fightin Phils.

Arrived 20 minutes AFTER the gates opened, and this was STILL the sight on the field.

Great! Yay! Time wasting! Although I guess Double-A is different than the levels above. That emptiness wouldn’t last for long anyways.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen that drill done on the warning track. Though I guess it is Double-A.

Not long after, the Phils position players started to play catch. I’ve noticed in years past that players in the lower levels of the minors don’t play catch for very long, so I knew I’d be rushed trying to identify players. Sure enough…

Trevor Schwecke tossed that one up. MUCH appreciated.

There were a few reasons I chose to be in Binghamton. The first was to see if the new MiLB standard balls were put in play. If you’re not a ball hawk/collector like myself, here’s what those look like.

With tickets right behind the Ponies dugout, a 3rd out ball was almost guaranteed. Struck out the first two innings, then in the top of the 3rd…

Welp, so much for that experiment. But I was still happy to have it. For you fellow nerds, that was a Carson Taylor strikeout tossed up by 1st baseman Ryan Clifford. My guess is that those new balls won’t see game action until next season, which means it’s just one more thing to look forward to.

Anyways, I figured I had used up the 1st base side, and with the game quickly progressing, I felt it was time to visit my favorite foul ball spot on the East Coast. And I’m glad I did.

That’s Wyatt Young of the Ponies launching a foul to the patio on the 3rd base side, and as circled in white, I was right in line with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch it on the fly. However…

Hell. Yes.

And then almost immediately after, Otto Kemp threw me the 3rd out ball to end that inning. No clue who hit it.

That was it for a little bit. Move ahead to the bottom of the 7th, when I was talking with the people next to me about what I do. Next thing I know…

Otto Kemp sent one my way. Again, read this one perfectly. The outcome wasn’t as peaceful as the first though. Right as I was about to get in line with it, a guy walked directly in front of me. The ball drilled him right in the head. He was okay, thank God. I tried offering him the ball, but he was probably in so much agony that he didn’t notice me at all. I still feel awkward having that ball even as I write this.

That ended up being it for both me and the game. Let’s put it this way, Ponies got destroyed. My total sure didn’t though.

STATS FOR THIS GAME

5 baseballs snagged:

• Toss up from Trevor Schwecke pregame
• 3rd out from Ryan Clifford, T3
• Foul from Wyatt Young, B5
• 3rd out from Otto Kemp, B6
• Foul from Otto Kemp, T7

LIFETIME TOTAL: 337

People always ask me why I don’t have season tickets for the Railriders, especially considering how much I go. I didn’t really have a good answer, until now that I have them.

For those who don’t know, the Railriders season ticket perks include VIP parking, promotional packages, and most importantly, earlier gate times. How early? A whole 15 minutes. That seemed like an hour to me, but maybe that’s because I hardly ever see BP. Not like it mattered now, as it rained and there was no BP.

Despite that, there WAS a ball on the field. One singular ball. Just sitting there on the warning track in center field, waiting to be rescued.

Rescued it soon was. By whom?

A groundskeeper that came out of nowhere! The interaction with him was fun for that short while.

I didn’t even ask for it, he just saw me there and said,

“It’s a little wet but it’s all yours!”

Then proceeded to toss it up.

Me: “Hey, a ball’s a ball! Thanks!!!”

Him: “It’s not too bad.”

Me: “Oh no, I’ve gotten WAY worse.”

We both had a chuckle. Wish I had more interactions like that. I also wish it lasted longer considering there was NO sign of life on the field. So, I figured I’d use that time to check out my seats for the year.

WOW. Just…WOW. And I didn’t even choose them. Didn’t have to I guess. I don’t even have words for how amazing it is for foul balls.

I quickly noticed that the pitching crew from both rosters were making their way out to the field. I kid you not, I hadn’t ran that fast in so long. But, I made it in time.

That’s Bats pitcher Brandon Leibrandt warming up. And while I didn’t get that ball, it’s always cool to watch the pitchers warm up.

At that point the game was only 15 minutes away, so I hustled back up to the seats just in time for the national anthem. Soon after, the game started. And with it came my 1st foul ball opportunity. I don’t even know who hit it, but it went literally 5 feet to my right. Got right in line with it, but it clanked off the metal of the wall behind me about 2 feet up. You may be able to see that mark here:

I’m not sure which of those it is, but it’s one of them.

Right after that, my phone rang. It was my best friend Liv! She’s been featured on here one or two times. For those who are new here though, here’s a little bit about her (First 2 paragraphs).

She called saying that she saw the play from down below. Sure enough, there she was in section 26! Later on when I met up with her, we had one goal in mind: snag a ball for her.

The task alone doesn’t seem too hard. You would think, right? Wrong. I had realized up until that point that the Bats SUCKED with toss ups, and it seemed as if the Railriders weren’t any different.

We decided to position ourselves on the berm in right field, more towards right center. Yankees star rookie Jasson Dominguez was down for like the 6th time this year, and after I explained to Liv his case, she was determined to get one from him.

The seemingly lack of generosity from either team proved to be true. Inning, after inning, after inning. No luck. And it seemed as if every time we moved, one got thrown to the same general area we had just been in. I wasn’t ready to give up though.

Fast forward to the top of the 7th, and I had taken a walk to a concession stand along the first base line to grab a drink for myself and Liv. She opted to stay on the berm in hopes of working something out, however on my way back, it was I who was on the receiving end of such a plan. Right as I was heading towards the bleachers, Jacob Hurtubise pulled a foul skipper down the line.

How convenient. An opportunity had just appeared out of thin air. This wasn’t my first experience with such a situation, so I knew all I had to do was hurry down the steps to where that ball boy sits and ask him for it. That sounds EXTREMELY simple, and it 100% was.

I mentioned earlier that it was my goal to get a ball for Liv. As much as I wanted this one to be hers, I felt kind of bad that I walked right past a kid and who I’m guessing was her big brother to get into position. Both had gloves and tried going for one or two as well, so I made the decision to sacrifice the one I had just gotten. Liv didn’t mind at all once I explained.

I mentioned to her that if she’d like, she was more than welcome to come back up to the club level with me. I didn’t even finish asking and she was already on board, so we headed back up that way. Unfortunately, no more balls would find my glove, so I gave her the one I had gotten earlier. Neither of us really minded, all we cared about was that we got to spend quality time with each other. That, and fireworks were to follow.

STATS FOR THIS GAME

2 baseballs total:

• Toss up from groundskeeper in centerfield
• Foul ball from Jacob Hurtubise/ball boy

LIFETIME TOTAL: 312

On this date last year, I was at Camden Yards in Baltimore to see the Yankees and Orioles. I left with 3 baseballs. You’ll see why that’s ironic later.

Twins @ Mets. Consider this my “revenge” game for having not gotten a single opportunity to get on the board last year when I was in Queens. And revenge it indeed was.

That’s beside the point. The ENTIRE reason I attended this game was to hopefully come up with a Mets City Connect ball. It’d be a huge contribution towards my charity campaign with Pitch In For Baseball, but they’re only used on Saturdays, so getting one would be a challenge. I knew that though and was completely up for it.

Here’s the view from outside:

Yes. I went in through the Robinson Rotunda. The home plate entrance. But trust me, the line was fast and the journey to left field was even faster. I’m glad it was because BP was going on for the Twins, and I wasn’t even inside the stadium for 10 minutes when I saw a home run coming straight for me. Some guy bobbled it down in front, it bounced around a few rows, and ended up in my hands. Easy scoop.

Sign of things to come? I’d say…yes.

The Twins only ended up taking one group of BP. Let’s just say they weren’t the most generous with toss ups, so being on the board felt nice. Especially with the level of competition.

After BP I rushed over to the Mets dugout of all places. Why? Because of the need for a commemorative, I tried orchestrating several connections to get one. The first of which required me to be at the dugout. Long story short, it didn’t work out.

By that point the bullpen crews were heading to the bullpens, so I made my way over there. Got there just in time to get a toss up from Mets catcher Luis Torrens as he was finishing with the pitching machine.

I had no need for a ton of balls in my bag, so I wound up giving that one to the nearest kid.

As Torrens was starting to play catch with bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello, the rest of the coaching staff was still in the bullpen getting things set up. With the need for a commemorative but the inability to identify any of the guys without numbers on their shirts, I gave the worlds most generic request for one hoping they knew what I meant.

“Hey guys! Any chance you might have a City Connect ball down there?”

They knew what I meant alright. One of them began to search the ball bag that the pitchers use. I had ZERO confidence they’d have one. That’s not saying it was impossible though. To my absolute delight…

I wish I knew who it was so I could thank him properly. Needless to say I made it well aware to him that his efforts were very much appreciated. It’s VERY rare that a commemorative ends up in a practice bag here and there. It happening to me with terrible luck the entire season up to that point was sooooooooooo refreshing.

As for the logo itself, I’ll be honest, it’s kind of boring. Three letters of the alphabet in a fancy font. That’s it. That’s the logo. I can’t complain though, a commemorative is a commemorative. Just having it made me feel amazing.

I remembered that the usher by the bullpen had politely instructed me that I had to leave before the national anthem, and with the singers heading to the field, I left there to get a first look at what I’d be dealing with for the night.

I chose that spot for two main reasons. A, great foul ball spot for lefties. B, it’s directly in front of the tunnel where the umpires walk through.

The foul balls part came to prove itself in the bottom of the 4th when Jesse Winker sliced one. I knew it was going to reach extremely close to my row and judged that it’d be a little short. I drifted down 3 steps, and just as I had read, it landed in the same row but too far to my left to reach. Very similar to the BP home run I snagged earlier, it bobbled around for a few seconds and ended up on the very next step. Unfortunately a guy beat me to it, but the thrill of that whole situation was super fun.

I took that as a sign to stay in my section. Unfortunately though, it was the last close opportunity I’d have the rest of the game. Time flew by like it was nothing. I will say, one of my favorite parts of the whole day, besides the commemorative of course, was getting to see Mets closer Edwin Diaz enter in total NY fashion.

It’s one thing seeing it online, but it’s a COMPLETELY different energy seeing it in person.

That was just about it though. The Mets wound up winning 2-0. I know earlier I mentioned getting an umpire ball, and trust me I tried, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I was okay with that, I got what I came for, and that’s all that mattered. Ended up with 3 total. Now you see why I said my Baltimore total was ironic?

STATS FOR THIS GAME

3 baseballs snagged:

– BP home run from righty on the Twins

– Toss up from Mets catcher Luis Torrens

– Mets City Connect commemorative from Mets coach

MLB LIFETIME TOTAL: 27

This was the second Single-A game of my Florida trip. And holy crap was it a fun one.

Tampa Tarpons @ Dunedin Blue Jays. The Tarpons are the Yankees Single-A affiliate, so seeing them meant I’ve now seen every level of both Phillies and Yankees baseball.

Oh yea, and it was “Malmo Oat Milkers” day for the Jays. That’s a new promotional thing MiLB started this year with the dairy company Oatly where for one day, every team in MiLB will change their name and wear special jerseys. So if you see different uniforms, that’s why.

This was the scene upon arrival:

Yea, the place is tiny, but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was the spacious outfield walkways and the fact that the ENTIRE STADIUM was general admission seating.

Truth be told, I didn’t ask for any balls during pregame. After Thursday’s game in Palm Beach, I realized that the teams probably need those practice balls way more than I do. So, I just decided to take in all the sights.

While wandering and checking the place out, I couldn’t help but notice the amount of baseballs just sitting in open areas. Here’s two that I found extra odd:

That last one was on a half field used for infield practice behind the right field wall. You would think someone would pick that up, right?

Anyways, the game was about to begin, so I found myself playing for foul balls in a nice shady area under cover along the third base line. My 1st ball of the day didn’t come until the bottom of the 2nd when Coby Morales of the Tarpons tossed up the ball that ended that inning.

Nice.

Finally on the board, I decided I’d give the outfield a try. I positioned myself more towards left center because most of the hitters were right handed, and straightaway seemed a little too tight with the bullpen swallowing tons of room. That play ended up working out EXTREMELY well. How?

That’s Willy Montero demolishing a home run. Where’d the ball go?

Off the batters eye more towards right center and down into the gap below.

Now I know what you’re going to say. “Ayden, there’s 3 balls down there. How do you know that’s the right one?” Remember, I was standing right there when it was hit, so I was eyeing that ball the entire time.

I should mention that ball retrieval devices, such as my cup trick, are NOT permitted inside the ballpark. Therefore the only way I’d be able to get it was to ask someone to go down and toss it up. Sure enough, an employee was walking by, so I quickly asked him if he’d be able to do just that. He was SUPER friendly and said he’d happily do it. I also suggested he toss the rest of the balls up to the kids in the outfield around me.

Moments later, there he was, down behind the fence. He held up the ball to confirm that it was the right one, then made the hookup. I couldn’t thank him enough. Here’s that ball:

The big scuff below the MiLB logo is where it hit the inside of the fence.

That was my 15th lifetime game home run, 6th of the 2024 season, and 1st outside of PA that actually counts. But the madness doesn’t end there. Ohhhhh no, that was just the beginning.

I figured I’d take the long way back to my seat to maximize opportunities. Ended up getting the outfield warm-up ball from the Blue Jays at their bullpen to start the top of the 6th…

Then the 3rd out ball that ended the bottom of the 6th from Tarpons right fielder Anthony Hall…

Then on the way back to my seat, a George Lombard Jr. foul ball in the top of the 7th behind home plate in the concourse.

3 BALLS WITHIN AN INNING AND A HALF SPAN. All 3 of which I ended up giving away.

And believe it or not, THAT STILL WASN’T IT.

I got back to my seat along the third base line around the bottom of the 7th and chose to hang out in the restaurant behind me to cool off. The top of the 8th came super fast, and as soon as I got comfy, I heard the loud bang of a foul ball getting lined into the seating area I was camped out in. No competition, easy snag. 2nd foul ball of the day.

I want to say it was Coby Morales who hit it.

Then an inning later, Manuel Beltre. Same situation.

3rd foul ball. 6TH GAME USED BALL. WHAT?

I’d love to say there was more, but that was it. The heat was way too high to stay any longer. There were only 6 outs left, and I was satisfied with a total of 7. Especially considering 6 out of the 7 were game used. Are you kidding? Who’d be mad about that?

STATS FROM THIS GAME:

7 total baseballs:

– 3rd out toss up from Coby Morales, bottom 2nd, third base dugout.

– Willy Montero game home run, top 3rd to batters eye. Tossed up by employee.

– Outfield warm-up toss up from Jays bullpen, top 6th.

– 3rd out toss up from Anthony Hall, bottom 6th, right field foul line.

– George Lombard Jr. foul ball, top 7th, home plate concourse.

– Coby Morales foul ball, top 8th, left field foul line.

– Manuel Beltre foul ball, bottom 8th, left field foul line.

LIFETIME TOTAL: 307

Yes, I shortened the name of the stadium. You can criticize me for that if you so desire. The name of the place was the least of my concerns coming into this day. The most? I only needed 8 baseballs to make my lifetime total 300.

Clearwater Threshers @ Palm Beach Cardinals.

I realized the night prior that it’d be a doubleheader due to a rain suspension. That meant that each game would only be 7 innings, and the first game would only last 2 innings because it was suspended in the 5th. However, because of heavy traffic, I only made it to the stadium to catch the final 2 outs. And that’s only because it went into extra innings.

That didn’t stop me from getting on the board for the first game. In fact, it happened right as I entered. The Cardinals were storming the field from a Chase Davis walk-off sac-fly. That ball was held onto by Threshers catcher Lou Albrecht and tossed up to me. I didn’t even ask for it. But hey, I’m not complaining.

After that, I figured I’d wander until the second game. I found myself on the first base side near this odd electrical box enclosed in a cage. I looked inside out of complete boredom, and to my absolute delight…

Yea. Mhm. That SCREAMED cup trick, at least the one closer to the wall did. It was an easy snag. That ball…well…let’s just say it wasn’t the most pleasant.

I kid you not, I took that photo, then IMMEDIATELY threw that ball in the trash. Then proceeded to wash my hands for a solid 2 minutes after touching it. It was so waterlogged and gross that even a simple touch would result in the leather coming off on your hands. I don’t need that, nobody does. But it counts.

So my hands were finally cleaned, and I figured I’d stay in that same general area. Now when I tell you that there was nobody there, I MEAN there was nobody there. There were only 2 ushers on duty, so you could literally wander on down to field level with no issues.

I didn’t sense anything from the Cardinals bullpen, so I hurried over to the Threshers side. Just in time to catch starter Mavis Graves finish his bullpen session. Once he was done, the ball stayed with catcher Jared Thomas, who then tossed it to me.

I was feeling REALLY good with 3 total. The game was about to start, so I ended up just staying on the third base side for the 1st inning. That decision paid off when I got the ball that ended it, a Sammy Hernandez fly out to right fielder Raylin Heredia.

Halfway there. My seat for the game made me even more excited. Why?

Three words. Foul. Ball. Heaven. And as it turned out, it was foul ball Heaven. Not Heaven for me, however. The following innings were simple. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity. The last of which I SHOULD have caught on the fly, however on my route (which was a straight shot 10 feet to my right), I banged my shin off a bunch of cup holders. And didn’t get the ball. Nice.

I didn’t get too upset. It was my first time at this stadium keep in mind.

I felt slightly better after getting the 3rd out ball from the Cardinals I had also been trying to get those same innings. I believe it was the 4th and know for a fact it was a Dakota Kotowski strikeout tossed up by first baseman Ross Friedrick.

That was it for a bit. Stayed behind home plate for fouls, yet nothing came. Come the 6th inning with my total still at 5, I knew I had to pull off something huge to get #300. How? I had to figure out. But I wasn’t giving up.

My idea was to go for outfield warm up balls from each team to get #s 6 and 7, then go for an umpire ball at the end of the game for #8 to make 300. I wound up back at the Cardinals bullpen to start the 7th inning where, sure enough, part 1 of my plan was executed thanks to Hunter Hayes.

Next came part 2, which, yet again, happened no problem. This time at the Threshers bullpen coming from Jake Eddington. What I didn’t realize was that my phone had died, so here’s that ball:

I love the ones like that. The brand new ones like the previous 6 were cool and all, but this one had unique things about it.

With only 3 outs remaining, I stayed by their bullpen. The umpires leave through a gate in left field, so it’d put me in perfect position.

Moments later, I caught a glimpse of what was a Chase Davis foul ball that he’d sliced into the seats along the third base line. Oddly, there was NOBODY going for it, so I quickly rushed up a ramp and down to those seats. And there it was. Just sitting there. With no hesitation, I picked it up. Ball #8 on the night, and ball #300 lifetime.

I was relieved. The entire goal of going to this game, achieved. What confused me at first, however, was the appearance of that ball.

It’s seemingly mud rubbed, and that green smudge on the side panel from hitting the seat assured me that it was in fact that foul. They didn’t take BP that day because it poured rain, and ushers are supposed to retrieve all loose balls in the seats. So why are the seams that high for a gamer? Why are the logos rubbed off? I know the balls MiLB uses in the levels below Triple-A are cheap and made in China, so maybe it’s simply from the sweaty hands of the guys playing? I don’t know. But I was still ecstatic to have snagged it.

That also meant that all 3 of my hundredth balls were game used! #100 was a line out to third base and #200 was a game grand slam that I caught on the fly.

The car ride back to the hotel was filled with happiness and triumph. And to finish things off, a photo of all 5 I kept:

STATS FOR THESE GAMES:

8 TOTAL BALLS

GAME 1:

– Final out toss up from Lou Albrecht

GAME 2:

– Cup trick in random area

– Pregame toss up from Jared Thomas

– 3rd out toss up from Raylin Heredia

– 3rd out toss up from Ross Friedrick

– Outfield warmup from Hunter Hayes

– Outfield warmup from Jake Eddington

– Chase Davis game foul ball

LIFETIME TOTAL: 300!!!

You’re getting a surprise entry with this one, it was a last minute decision on my end to make. It was so eventful I couldn’t typing something up for it.

Before I go too deep, I should say that this was NOT my first time at Fenway. I went 2 years prior and didn’t snag a single ball, so I came back with pure determination to get on the board.

Believe it or not, the ball snagging started a good day and a half before the game. It’s a long story, so allow me to explain.

Let’s start from the beginning. The Toronto Blue Jays were in town, and the series started Monday the 24th. That night, Vladimir Guerrero Jr did this:

He LAUNCHED a 471 foot blast OVER the Green Monster and onto Landsdowne Street. I thought that ball was sure to have been retrieved by someone the same night. Come the next morning, I decided I’d go downtown to Landsdowne and see if anything was there. And to my absolute surprise…

A ball! Just sitting there, waiting to be rescued. I quickly reached for my cup trick and pulled that ball up. Here it is after I snagged it:

The first thing I noticed was that it was mud rubbed. A game ball? Indeed, it was true. Then the thought hit me: could it be the Vlad home run?

A nuts thought, I admit, but a reasonable one at that. Think about it. That ball couldn’t have possibly been from the week prior, the Red Sox weren’t home for the 3 series prior to this one. It would have been so waterlogged that I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep it. It couldn’t have been from batting practice, brand new balls are used for that.

The gap where I found it was perfectly in line with where Vlad hit it. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN IT!

By then, I was already shaking. Not only was it my first ball at Fenway, IT WAS A GAME HOME RUN FROM A FUTURE HALL OF FAMER. AND THE LONGEST OF HIS CAREER UP TO THAT POINT.

Here’s a better look at it:

Fast forward to the next day. This was the scene outside the monster:

With how the previous day had gone, I figured I’d test my luck outside for a solid 40 minutes before the gates officially opened. Nothing came my way, but it was still fun just to be out there.

With the pending rain storms in the area, I wasn’t quite sure if the Blue Jays would even take BP. Luckily, they were.

My first ball inside the stadium came almost instantly after arriving in right center field. One was just sitting in the bullpen positioned perfectly for the cup trick. Security is super chill with stuff like that at Fenway, so I had no problem getting it.

There were only 10 minutes left of BP by then, so I could tell the final group was starting to wind down. My second and final ball came not long after, a toss up from one of the coaches in center field. I’ll be honest, I have no clue who that was, and I don’t even have a photo of the ball. Like you could guess, it was identical to the first, so I gave it to a kid next to me.

That was basically it as far as ball hawking goes, I was unsuccessful at both the bullpens and the foul lines for warm ups. My view for the game wasn’t one to be disappointed about at all.

Remember that rain I mentioned earlier? The game only lasted an inning before it came. And when I say it was coming down, I MEAN it was coming down.

This was a perfect opportunity to take a few photos. I’ll caption each to make it easier.

I was hoping the rain would let up a little. That didn’t happen though, and like I had feared, the game wound up getting suspended. Womp womp.

I can’t be disappointed, I got what I came for. I’ll definitely be back too.

STATS FOR THESE GAMES

3 total baseballs:

– 6/25: Vlad Guerrero Jr. game home run snagged with cup trick

– 6/26: Cup trick out of bullpen, toss up by coach

MLB LIFETIME TOTAL: 19

My definition of “true friend” is as follows: someone who I can hang out with consistently and both them and I trust each other with our lives, talk to each other when either of us need, and are always there for each other no matter what. I seem to only have 2 people that fit that description plus more. This day starts with one of those people.

That person is my friend Liv, who I literally met in September of this school year, and we already have a sisterhood-brotherhood type relationship. Knowing me and my one hobby, she got me Railriders tickets for my birthday. My birthday is/was in April, and it’s May. Well worth the wait honestly.

This game was also extremely emotional for me. As some of you may have read in this entry, I recently lost my grandmother unexpectedly. Well, her service happened to be this same day. I was looking forward to the game because of that, as it would take my mind off everything and put my focus on being with Liv.

Oddly, this day was a doubleheader, however Liv had to be at the local carnival by 7, so we’d only end up staying the 1st game. Got to the stadium much later than I would have liked, but I’m perfectly fine with that since she was with me. In fact, it worked out great as far as numbers. Got in just as the Railriders were starting to play catch along the 3rd base line…

…and got back to back toss ups within a span of less than 4 minutes. First from TJ Rumfield, then Oscar Gonzalez.

After that, I told Liv that whatever we did after that point was completely up to her. So, we ended up grabbing food and then headed to our seats along the 1st base line. I was excited from the day she gave the tickets to me just based off where they were:

They’d be even better if the huge net wasn’t in the way. But hey, I wasn’t going to complain.

The game moved along rather quickly, and each time the Mets stormed off the field, I payed close attention to where 1st baseman Ji-Man Choi was chucking the 3rd out balls. I noticed that he always threw them past the middle of section 16 to my right. So, after the bottom of the 4th ended, I moved to that same spot. Positioning is everything, and it payed off here.

That ball, in case you’re wondering, was a Kevin Smith strikeout to end the inning. As seen in that same entry linked above, I got a game ball that game the day after my grandma passed, that one just so happened to be a home run. I was hoping to get a home run during this game as well, however I didn’t see that happening, so still getting a game ball felt just as good.

So my total on the day was 3 up to that point. What now? Well, Liv and I wandered around for the rest of the game. Somewhere around then, I remembered that I had given her the 2 balls that started the day. She has 2 little brothers, so I knew I had to get a 4th ball. That way, she and both of her brothers had one.

As soon as we got back to the seats, the game was just about over, and I didn’t think getting #4 was a possibility. After the final out, I randomly called out to a ball boy with the most generic request for a toss up I could give. Thank God I did, because he tipped me off to a spot right next to the dugout behind home plate. Another ball boy was there, and using that same generic request, he put a ball in my glove. Mission accomplished!

That was basically it. I couldn’t leave without a final photo, so I won’t leave you all without one either.

STATS FOR THIS GAME

4 BALLS TOTAL:

– Toss up from TJ Rumfield

– Toss up from Oscar Gonzalez

– 3rd out ball from Ji-Man Choi, Kevin Smith strikeout

– Handout by ball boy postgame

LIFETIME TOTAL: 274